An Exploration of Gendered Food Bias in Central Rural North Indian Homes A dissertation submitted to Auckland University of Technology In fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Gastronomy By: Nishita Chandra 2019 School of Hospitality and Tourism Table of Contents List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................ 7 List of Tables ............................................................................................................................................. 7 Attestation of Authorship ......................................................................................................................... 8 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................... 9 Abstract .................................................................................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 11 1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY ......................................................................................... 11 1.2 RESEARCH AIMS AND QUESTIONS ................................................................................. 12 1.3 METHODS AND METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................... 12 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................ 14 2.1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 14 2.1.1 Gender theory and food bias .............................................................................................. 14 2.1.2 Food and gender in a global context ................................................................................. 15 2.1.3 Food and gender in an Indian context ............................................................................... 16 2.2 POVERTY AND GENDERED FOOD BIAS ........................................................................ 19 2.2.1 Poverty and gender dynamics at home ............................................................................. 20 2.3 THE IMPACT OF EDUCATION ON WOMEN’S AUTONOMY ..................................... 21 2.4 THE EFFECT OF WOMEN’S ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTION TO THE HOUSEHOLD 22 2.5 NUTRITION ................................................................................................................................ 22 2.6 THE IMPACT OF SOCIO-CULTURAL NORMS ON FOOD BIAS ................................ 23 2.6.1 The system of dowry ........................................................................................................... 24 2.6.2 Practices and rituals transmitting food bias ...................................................................... 25 2.6.3 Social mechanisms that enforce gendered domination ................................................... 25 2.7 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................. 26 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................... 27 3.1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 27 3.2 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND QUESTION ..................................................................... 27 3.3 ONTOLOGY, EPISTEMOLOGY AND PARADIGM ......................................................... 27 3.3.1 Ontology and epistemology ................................................................................................ 27 3.3.2 Paradigm ............................................................................................................................... 29 3.4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .............................................................................................. 30 3.5 DATA COLLECTION ............................................................................................................... 30 3.6 SAMPLING ................................................................................................................................. 31 3.7 RESEARCH PROCEDURE AND DATA COLLECTION .................................................. 32 3.8 DATA ANALYSIS ..................................................................................................................... 33 5 3.9 ETHICS......................................................................................................................................... 37 3.10 TRUSTWORTHINESS IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH ................................................ 37 3.10.1 Credibility ........................................................................................................................... 37 3.10.2 Transferability .................................................................................................................... 37 3.10.3 Dependability ..................................................................................................................... 38 3.10.4 Confirmability .................................................................................................................... 38 3.11 LIMITATIONS ......................................................................................................................... 38 3.12 SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................... 39 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ............................................................................... 40 4.1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 40 4.2 FAMILY HIERARCHY............................................................................................................. 40 4.2.1 Behaviours reflecting male authority and entitlement .................................................... 41 4.2.2 Older women’s authority over younger women .............................................................. 43 4.2.3 Summary ............................................................................................................................... 43 4.2.4 Discussion ............................................................................................................................. 43 4.3 Roles of service for women........................................................................................................ 44 4.3.1 Women as caretakers of men and children ....................................................................... 44 4.3.2 The male head of the house eating first ............................................................................ 45 4.3.3 Men and boys served before women ................................................................................. 46 4.3.4 Summary ............................................................................................................................... 47 4.3.5 Discussion ............................................................................................................................. 47 4.4 TRADITIONAL NORMS OF BEHAVIOUR ........................................................................ 48 4.4.1 Early domestic socialisation of women and girls ............................................................ 48 4.4.2 Gender roles and rituals learned ........................................................................................ 49 4.4.3 Rituals of subservience and subordination learned ......................................................... 49 4.4.4 Hard domestic labour for women ...................................................................................... 50 4.4.5 Summary ............................................................................................................................... 50 4.4.6 Discussion ............................................................................................................................. 50 4.5 Concluding summary: The mechanisms of food bias ............................................................ 51 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................. 54 5.1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 54 5.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES REVISITED ................................................................................ 54 5.3 THEORETICAL IMPLICATIONS .......................................................................................... 55 5.4 PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS ................................................................................................ 55 5.5 LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH ....................................................................... 56 5.6 CONCLUDING REMARKS ..................................................................................................... 56 REFERENCES 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